You answer a question with a question. Usually the last futile attempt at legitmizing an argument you have lost.
Let me answer you though:
I started with the drum pattern and provided examples of a kick and snare sequence which is present in soca songs of the past and even some present. I didn't even mention the floor tom present in certain bars when the brass is playing. The floor tom underscoring the beat is something that existed in the says of Shorty, which in those days replaced the snare in many recordings.
I will further explain myself in saying that there is a compelling argument that the song has commanding lyrics in tis hook which is ever present in modern dancehall and soca. The song is called "front of the line" with the hook insisting that the subject of the song 'step to the front of the line' which in many a party soca song can paralleled to Superblue telling the crowd to 'get something and wave' Nigel Lewis telling the crowd to 'move it to the left' or Machel telling the revellers to 'hold on to the big truck'.
Since then we have had American artists like Fatman Scoop doing the same thing and dancehall artists like Elephant Man and Voicemail belting out instructions in their songs, 8 years after hearing Jamaicans say 'soca a eediat music, only a sing bout instructions to rass'.
Now I reiterate that this is not necessarily a soca song, but my original question to you was how did it no contain much of a soca element.
Further, opinions on this subject can go either way depending on the ear that is listening. I posited though, that Trinis are quick to give up something that they played a role in, because it doesn't meet certain criteria, which I think is an injustice to our indigenous music and the roll it can play in the wider world.
If this was the case with other art forms, then maybe one could argue that Bob Marley's Could You Be Loved was not actually reggae, but Marley's attempt at securing a disco/soul American market, which from interviews of those around him then, we know to be fact. But then Shaggy's It Wasn't Me, is still the highest selling reggae song of all time, and one of the most successful singles in history. What made that reggae/dancehall?
5 years earlier he and Ini Kamoze had pop hits with soul beats behind them, yet Jamaicans and others identified with them as reggae songs. We are nowhere near that level of adjustment in the case of Front of the Line, yet you are willing to say Trinidad and Tobago's music had little no no influence on that? One of the producers is a friggin Trini!!
Start listening.... really listening, and then make your statement. Listen to Calypso in the 50's and listen to Calypso just 10 years later in the late 60's and they sound completely different. Same genre though. Music moves on, maybe it's time you do too.
I have presented my argument. I eagerly await yours. If you could have the dignity of providing examples with your arguments instead of simply regurgitating previous posts, it would be appreciated.
